Small Packages
by Oralle18
Summary: Nico, the samba-loving bird that was taken away from his home in the Canary Islands wishing to escape from his cage, and Pedro, the free, infamous party-goer. How will they meet? Were they instantly friends, or did they hate each other? Read this to find out! PREQUEL
1. Chapter 1

_Wasn't really thinking, wasn't looking, _  
_Wasn't searching... for an answer..._  
_In the moonlight..._  
_When I saw you face_  
_Saw you looking at me, Saw you peaking out from under... moonbeams_  
_Sway... breeze..._

The small, young teenaged canary trailed off and stopped singing the song that he was currently trying to come up with the lyrics for. He needed something relaxing and romantic, but he couldn't get anywhere further than those few lines. Well, other than that, the only next thought that came into the canary's mind was, _'Cages suck.'_

And yet, there he sat in the cramped space, cooped up in a stupid, boring cage. Why did humans do this to birds? He hadn't done anything to them at all...

All his life, the canary named Nico had been kept in cages. From the very second he hatched to the present. He had been seperated from his family when he was just a fledgling when he was bought from a human's building. It was called a 'pet shop' or something of the sort. He absolutely hated it.  
All Nico wanted was two simple, little things: one, to be free and well away from being kept behind a set of bars, two, to move away from Marsielle to somewhere more sunny and tropical. Somewhere closer to whatever the humans called that imaginary line that seperated the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere.

If only those two simple wishes would come true...

XXX

_Allll the birds of a feather (Ohhhh)_  
_Do what we love most of alll (Ohhhh)_  
_We are the best at rhythm and laughter_  
_That's why we love Carnavale_

It was nothing other than the usual, early, daily wake-up call in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the middle of the tropical rainforest. Lots of Rio's birds willingly and eagerly woke up every, single morning to join in while watching the spectacular choreography (that, honestly, no one knew who had actually had made it up in the first place).

As the sound of singing voices echoed through the forest, it eventually came to a spacious, huge hollow, that anyone would have thought that about three, fully-grown albatross' lived in there. Apparently not. In fact, only one bird lived in the almost empty space, and that was none other than Pedro, a red-crested cardinal with tough looks and a passion for partying at local clubs.  
He was laying face down and snoring louder than most people's fathers do. Then, somehow, the sound coming from outside both miraculously and mysteriously managed to carry itself to the cardinal's unseen ears. As soon as it did, a nanosecond later he sprang up and out of his nest like a rabbit gone mad that had had a cup of sugar too many and flew outside, joining in the festivites and grinning widely.

_Anything can be for reeeaal in Riiiiooo_  
_Aalll by itself (by itself)_  
_You caan feel it happening_  
_You can't find it anywhere elllllssse_

Just as fast as Pedro had gotten from his nest to outside, all the birds went straight back to what they had to do in a flurry of vibirantly coloured feathers. Most of them just flew in seperate directions, either alone or socialising in a group.

As Pedro swooped down, toward a small tree that had ripe, bright mangoes growing on it, someone's familiar colours caught his eye, making his head snap in another direction. This, in turn, made Pedro rocket head first into his very own tree (he had flown straight past the mango tree). He was then rewarded by an instant headache and someone's cheery laughing.

Pedro, having slid down the tree, scrambled back to his feet and brushed all the imaginary dirt that wasn't on him, then turned around to see a toco toucan, much larger than himself. "Hey, Raffyyy!"  
The toucan smiled gleefully down at the cardinal and laughed, seeming unusually excited. "I've got two more on the way!"

Pedro became befuddled and froze, trying to absorb the words and figure out what it meant. He stood there, cupping his vibirant, crimson chin and stroked it thoughtfully, beginning to pace. He stopped for a second and raised an eyebrow at the toucan, still not sure. Then it clicked.

"What?! Two more eggs? Have you got any names yet? Is one a boy? Are you sure there's just two? There could be three! Tell me, man!" Pedro looked as if he was about to have a panic attack, letting the questions flow fluently out of his mouth at a million miles an hour.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; calm down, Pedro-" He was cut off.

"So, Rafael, the King Of Carnavale, now has two more to watch over?" Rafael and Pedro knew the silky voice and easily recognised the bird, so they turned and raised their eyebrows questioningly at the rather dapper Blue Jay, who shrugged nonchalantly. "I heard about it on through the grapevine."

"Hey, Nestor!"

"Eeiii! Nestor, my bird!"

Nestor, a blue jay, smirked instead of wearing his usual greeting smile. Something was up, and it was something that both Pedro and Rafael knew they had to find out before...  
"AAAHHHH! CENTIPEDE!" Caesar.

A lutino blue-and-gold macaw screamed girlishly, swooped down on the branch next to Nestor with a centipede crawling all over him. Flailing in pure panick, he hopped around.  
"GET IT OFF, NESTOR! GET IT OFF!"

Nestor chuckled lightly, then outstretched his wing for his pet insect to simply crawl up his wing and almost all the way around his neck. "You shouldn't be so mean about Yuri..." He laughed, giving his centipede a light pat.

Caesar was now careening over toward the tree trunk, panting heavily, "S-s-s-so close..." His eye twitched, not daring to look away from the reddish-brown centipede.  
The three other avians raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"It could've bit my neck!" He shouted defiantly, gesturing to his thick, muscular, yellow feathered neck.  
"But Yuri wouldn't even hurt an ant!" Nestor protested indigantly.  
The centipede apparently called Yuri sort of... purred in a way.

Caesar still didn't look convinced. "Anyway," Though, Nestor decided to change the subject, stroking Yuri. "Where's Alonzo and Blaine?"

The blue and gold macaw stopped staring cautiously at Yuri and shrugged casually. "Eh, they went to Marsielle, expecting that they'll find a singer we need for our music group 'cause of Carlos." Then, he sent an antagonising glare at Pedro. "AND when they come back with that singer, we will beat you."  
The cardinal scoffed, rolled his eyes then glared straight back at Caesar, ruffling his feathers angrily.

"I'd like to see ya' try."

"Alright then," Caesar spread his wings and prepared to take flight, still giving Pedro his most competitive look. "Friday, midday and at the reopening of A parte local. I'm not gonna chicken out on this one." With those final words, he took off, flapping back in the direction he had come in, probably back to his hollow.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Arrival

Nico, perched on his little, silver swing, sighed. Looking up through the window into the outside world, he could just see the top half of Unite d'Habitation. The tall, white building easily towered up above the many surronding parked cars and beautiful trees.

If only he could get the chance he needed to unlock the cage, open the window and get out of this old, _absolutely boring_ house. But, there were a couple of things that kept him from doing so. One, even though he could unlock the slip/slide bolt on the door, he could barely manage sliding the the heavy window even just a milimetre to escape the enclosed space. Two, there was a cat that wasn't too fond of birds that had tried to kill and eat him both times he actually got out (the front door had been left ajar). Though, the white persian cat had been recently called inside by it's owner; it was bathtime.

Nico smiled as he remembered that entertaining time when he had got to see the persian's owner give him a bath. He had felt unbelieveably sorry for the cat frantic to get out of the tub...

"SON! GET OUTTA THERE! _NOW! _I don't frickin' care if you're busy!" Dominic, his owner, yelled, knocking at the bathroom door.

The family's old Basset Hound, Willis, snickered and looked over at Nico, who pulled a strange face as he tried to contain his laughter. Although Willis and Nico weren't exactly expected to be pretty good friends, it was times like this that they seemed to use telepathy, knowing what each other were thinking.

First, Willis snorted. Then the two bursted into hysterics, Nico falling off his perch after losing his balance and weakening his grip on the

**XXX**

"No."

"You didn't do the dare."

"I refused."

"If you refuse, you lose a chicken."

"Why exactly do you make it 'lose a chicken'?"

"'Cause you were chickening out, _duh_." Pedro looked expectantly at his Blue Jay friend.

"No."

"Naw, c'_mon_." Pedro tried to convince Nestor, hopping nearer to the edge of the cover of the low shrubs. "Besides, it's only Rafy's kid. And it's only one. I mean, come on, it's not like there's eighteen 'nd they're all gon' try to eat your feathers or somethin'."

"Look," Nestor tried to reason carefully. "maybe we can just get Rafy another day."

"You called?" A black and white, large beaked bird swooped down from above and landed just a few feet away from Nestor and Pedro.

The two birds looked up at Rafeal and grinned widely. "Hey, Rafy!"

"Hey, guys!" Rafael greeted cheerily as usual. "Say," His large smile was quick to disappear as he noticed something. "where's Yuri?"

"Eh, I gave 'im away to some kid." Nestor replied, waving it off and leaning on a shrub leaf, which gave way for his weight, causing him to face-plant epically.

" Nevermind. So, anyway, what brings you here?" Rafael asked, watching as Nestor used Pedro to help him get up from where he had left a tiny ditch in the dirt.

"We we're wondering if you'd like to come with us to The Shore." Pedro answered, Nestor nodding his head as if to confirm his friend's statement.

Rafael inhaled sharply and shook his head. "Sorry, guys, Eva won't let me out after that night I snuck out with you two."

"Oh." Their shoulders slumped and they looked down at their feet, but they suddenly exclaimed, "Bye, Rafy!" and with that, flew off toward the famous Copacabana beach.

**XXX**

_Yeah, things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do_

_And I would gladly hit the road, get up and go if I knew_

_That someday it would lead me back to you_

_That someday it would lead me back to you_

Nico, having become unbelieveably bored after the rather traumatising mishap that had happened during the morning, had begun to sing, his voice rich, dreamboat voice creating smooth vocals and silky trills.

_That may be all I need_

_In darkness, she is all I see_

_Come and rest your bones with me_

_Driving slow on Sunday morning_

_And I never want to leave_

His voice was easily identified as bounce and powerful, a wonderful combination designed to make an awesome voice.

_Fingers trace your every outline_

_Paint a picture with my hands_

_Back and forth we sway like branches in a storm_

_Change the weather, still together when it ends_

_That maybe AAALLLLLLL I need,_

_In the darnkness, she is AAALLLLLLL I see_

_Come and rest your BOOONES with me,_

_Ooh, drivin' SLOOW on Sunday morning, _

_And I NEVER want to leave_

The passionate climax of the song and the smooth, rich voice was powerful, a moderately loud legato voice resonating throughout the lounge room.

_But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do_

_Sunday morning, rain is falling and I'm calling out to you_

_Singing, "Someday it'll bring me back to you."_

_Find a way to bring myself back home to you_

This was the bird they were looking for.

**XXX**

"AHHH- mmmff!"

His captor slapped a wing over his beak, silencing his cry of distress before it made Willis awaken from his powernap.

"Wh-what do you want from me?" Nico whimpered as the wing was removed. He was done screaming, and he knew that calling out to Willis was equal to attempting suicide. He shivered from the night's chilly air and the sight of the large birds sickeningly sharp talons.

Those sharp talons could cut through skin if they got close enough. And, quite frankly, Nico thought that those talons were a bit too close for his comfort.

"Blaine, don't freakin' scare the poor kid." A quick voice -sounding very Brazilian- snapped, giving his captor the smallest of shoves.

Nico gulped, only slightly gracious that the smaller bird had saved him from possibly gettig a dislocated left (also dominant) wing, asking fearfully in a small voice, "What do you want?" He knew that the two strangers weren't surprised that his voice didn't really possess much of a French accent.

"We have a proposal for you." The quick voice answered.

**XXX**

On a part of Copacabana beach, near both Ipanema and Rio's international airport, it was perfect for a usual midday. As usual, the beach was crowded with not only people, but birds. And that included a particular duo of a red-crested cardinal and blue jay. They were just hanging out near the water, talking when the highly noticeable sound of an aeroplane soaring overhead with, most definately, a whole handful of tourists. But, the duo weren't very interested about the humans, they were interested in something else. Well, it was actually just Pedro who was interested.

"Wait a minute, so you're saying that you wanna go see if there's any pretty, foreign girls, _let them out of their cage_ and give them a tour?" Nestor could hardly believe Pedro. At all.

"Yep."

"You're nuts." Nestor stated bluntly, clearly not persuaded.

Pedro protested, beginning to drag Nestor toward Rio's international airport, "Naw, c'mon; you've always wanted to find that 'special someone', so today just might be your lucky day." He then let go of Nestor to take flight.

"Fine; but I'm only coming to make sure you don't get adopted by a human again!" Nestor yelled, slightly frusturated with his stubborn friend. He hurriedly fluttered after his friend, frowning at his absurd friend's decision.

**XXX**

Upon feeling the plane landing, Nico tensed again. Alonzo, Blaine and him had camped in the back of the aeroplane where the luggage was kept. They were waiting for the hatch to open, but, of course, the plane had to go all the was down the runwa- already done. The threesome could tell, because just then, the plane jerked to a sudden stop, causing Nico to stagger, losing his footing and falling over.

Nico felt a small, light tap on his shoulder, so he turned and looked up to Alonzo. The Little Lorikeet was one awesome astrologist and an expert at navigation, who seemed to be one nervous, friendly, flighty (pun intended), quick-witted bird.

"Follow our lead." He whispered, glancing past Nico just in time to see the door open, sunlight flooding in. Nico jumped up and onto his feet, spreading his wings and getting ready.

Now was their chance. Nico, Blaine and Alonzo took flight once again and rocketted straight past the man at the door, all seeming like coloured bullets. Blaine and Alonzo, who were both in the lead, glided swiftly through the air, headed for a tall palm tree in between two lanes, lined up with several others, and perched on it, as if looking for something... or maybe someone. Either way, they looked pretty desperate to find that what they were looking for, suddenly seeming to ignore Nico's presence.

Nico, kind of bored after what seemed like an hour, turned his attention to a group of several beatiful female rollers and tangers. They seemed to be talking to what seemed like a slightly fat, but vibirant-coloured Red-Crested Cardinal with a Blue Jay that had a cheesy smile on his face.

That's when Nico felt himself sliding down the branch. Turning with a start, he looked to his right to see a lutino Blue-and-Gold Macaw.

The newcomer was looking straight at him. "So, _you're_ our new addition."

Feeling a little threatened by the somehow sinister tone in his voice, Nico answered, "Uhhh...hi?"

"The name's Caesar; I'm the lead singer of this music group." Caesar started, using a very serious voice.

Nico noticed the questioning look on Caesar's face. "Oh! Uhh, Nico. _Meu nome e_ Nico."

"Hmm. Well, Nico, _bem-vindo _to Rio de Janeiro." Caesar turned around in mid air, the rest folllowing while he continued. "I trust that you're tired from your flight, so you can show us what you can show us what you got tomorrow. After that, you get to explore the place, then the day after _that_, if you were good enough the day before, you get to perform at a club. Sound good?"

"Yep." Nico answered, slightly taken aback and befuddled from the little 'schedule' of his.

"Good." Caesar turned around to land on an abandoned light blue building with an open window that had been left ajar. "You can memorise this building's location, right?" Caesar raised an eyebrow as he asked the question.

"Yeah."

"Okay, Alonzo will come and find you if you aren't here by sundown."

The macaw and Blaine flew straight into the building, Alonzo slowly following, turning back to give Nico a nervous glance._ 'The poor kid doesn't even know what he's getting himself into...' _He thought as he closed the window behind him.


	3. Chapter 3 - He Stole My Berry

"Hey, man," Nestor started, nudging Pedro gently and looking up at a palm tree supporting a small Yellow Canary alongside a particular lutino Blue-and-Gold Macaw, a Musk Lorikeet and a familiar Little Lorikeet.

"Huh? What?" Pedro snapped his head in the direction Nestor was looking in. "Ain't that Alonzo and... a newbie?" He squinted at the unfanmiliar canary just as the small group took flight.

"It's probably the dude from Marsielle."

"Oh." Pedro squinted. "You think Caesar's gonna do what he did to Carlos?"

"Eh. I dunno. We should see what he's like, yeah?" Nestor suggested, taking flight with three flaps.

Pedro just shrugged. "'Kay."

"Tomorrow, yeah?"

"Agreed."

They advanced toward the rainforest at a nice, leasurely pace to their very favourite spot.

"_AAAHHHHH!_" A shrill scream echoed through a narrow alley, just one street away from the edge of the forest, that Nico had just entered.

The Yellow Canary zoomed straight out like there was no tomorrow, continuing to scream in mere terror. He took a sharp turn to the left, smashing into a trash can on the way, causing him to fall from his flight and crash land in a pile of rubbish. A green bottlecap flipped through the air, having been in the trash can seconds before and miraculously landed squarely on his head. However, he didn't pay attention to it at all, because he heard the cat's meow just from around two metres behind him.

Nico instantaneously got back into the air and continued his screaming, never bothering to look back and rushing madly into the rainforest. Not aware that the tabby cat had skidded to a halt the very second he entered the forest, he kept on going, pumping his wings even harder.

That was when a tree's branch appeared a little too late, and Nico's dominant was nicked by the tree's trunk. Nico cried out, startled, and even forgot to flap his wings. This resulted to him crashing down, missing the leaf litter completely and crashing down through a bush and onto the ground, landing on his right elbow.

He used his left wing to get up first, his elbow aching a little bit. Then, a searing, white hot pain shot up his elbow as he stretched it. He cringed at this, and bent it back immediately. He looked down, and saw the bottlecap not too far away, quite surprisingly. He eyed it, before shrugging and throwing it, watching as it spun through the air, a bit like a frisbee, and splashed down into a pond somewhere nearby.

It wasn't long after he had been sent plunging down to the ground and had been forced to walk that Nico heard his stomach rumble.

He scowled down at his stomach and sighed, growling a few angry curses for a moment before halting. A tree, a suspiciously-brightly coloured berry bush, a fern, a raspberry bush...

"Raspberries!" He gasped, smiling, and immediately hopped over to a bush and willingly plucked the berry off it's twig, barely acknowledging the fact that it was the only berry left on the particular bush. He also failed to notice the rustling bushes just a few feet away.

Nico never got to eat that particular, ripe, plump raspberry, because a shout echoing around the rainforest caused him to freeze.

"_NOOOOOOO!"_

He was tackled to the ground by a robust blur of red and grey, pinned down, had the raspberry snatched out of his grasp, and looked up just as his 'attacker' (a Red-Crested Cardinal) rolled off of him and happily popped the raspberry into his beak. Nico frowned disapprovingly at this.

"Great; first I get my wing sprained and now my only food gets stol-" He was cut off.

The Red-crested Cardinal stared at him, while a Blue Jay swooped down to land in between them both. "You gotta sprained wing?"

"Hey, ain't this the newbie that's s'possed to win the competition for you-know-who?" Pedro asked his friend, whispering not-so-quietly and jabbing a flight feather in Nico's direction.

"It _is_ him! I _CANNOT_ believe he _actually_ let him sprain his wing!" The Blue Jay seemed disgusted with whoever he and his companion was talking about as he added, "Man, what a _jerk_!"

Nico, however, still frowned at the Cardinal, then whined to the Blue Jay, "He stole my berry, man!" He was completely ignored.

"I know, but then again, the guy _is_ a bit nutty, Nestor..." The Cardinal said, looking around with shifty eyes.

They both suddenly looked at Nico, Nestor asking, "Did you come here from France with two Lorikeets?" Nico nodded. "Did you meet a guy called _Alonzo_?" Nod. "Was there a guy called _Blaine_?" Nod again.

Pedro stepped forward and asked, cocking an eyebrow suspicously. "Was there a guy called _Bob_?"

Nico stared at him unsurely, then shook his head slowly, answering, "..No..."

"What 'bout a guy called _Caesar_?" Pedro asked again, staring him down.

"A big Lutino Blue-And-Gold Macaw?"

"Yeah; that's Caesar, alright. Did he threaten you yet?"

".. No..." Nico shrank back a little while he replied, beginning to think that agreeing to come to Rio with two strangers hadn't exactly been the most bright idea in the world.

"D' you get this weird vibe 'round him when you met 'im?" Pedro asked, his slang making Nestor look at him rather incrediously, while Nico began to feel curious.

"Well... kinda; he _was_ pretty intimidating."

Pedro suddenly looked somewhat victoriously over at Nestor, startling Nico as he shouted, "See?! That's what happened to Carlos!"

Nestor nodded vehemently and snapped his flight feathers, saying, "Of course!"

"Who's Carlos?"

The duo looked down at the extremely befuddled, perplexed Canary, Pedro ready to launch an over exaggerated backstory about whoever Carlos was, however, Nestor beat Pedro to it. He knew that if Pedro told the story, there was absolutely no way Nico would understand anything about Carlos at all.

"Carlos' a Yellow-Tinted Honeyeater. Was born in Puerto Rico, raised in New Zealand, whisked away from New Zealand by Caesar, Blaine and Alonzo, and used." Nestor received a grave look from Pedro and a blank face from Nico, so he added, "Caesar, being a pretty bad singer, found that Carlos was not only an alright singer that had a thing for the 60's to 90's music, but was also one hell of a good rapper. So, he lip synched.

"Poor Carlos barely got any respect, treated like dirt... his asthma didn't help, either. Every single day we'd see him at the end of his performance backstage, light-headed and dizzy. After about three weeks, Pedro and I was told by Alonzo -you know him- that he told Caesar he was leaving the band. That was when Caesar began taking rather... _durastic measures_." Nico looked confused, thrilled and scared all at once, curious about what 'durastic measures' could possibly mean, seeming like a young child watching a horror movie (all that was really missing was a television screen and some popcorn). Nestor continued to recount all he knew.

"He tied Carlos up. It was unbelieveable when I first saw Caesar sneaking around the back alley with Carlos in his 'leash'; it looked so cruel... Alonzo looked so guilty. But, if it hadn't been for the fact that Alonzo and Carlos had become best friends, Carlos would've _never_ escaped that lifestyle.

"After a fortnight, Alonzo had gnawed through the knot and set Carlos loose while Caesar and Blaine were asleep. So, Carlos arrived at around one in the morning, asking if he could hide out at one of our friend's hollow... It was actually Rafy's tree, wasn't it?" Nestor paused to look at Pedro, who nodded, making Nico's eyes narrow as he tilted his head. Nestor launched back into the story again. "But, after Caesar barged into the hollow and turned the place upside-down, looking for Carlos, Carlos decided to leave, and left for Villahermosa in Mexico. Alonzo and him are still in contact, and Alonzo keeps us up-to-date, so it turned out all good."

Nico's eye twitched a little before he asked, "Would Alonzo help keep Caesar away from me?"

Pedro shrugged casually and answered, drapping a wing over his shoulders, "Sure. Just stay with us and you'll be fine; we'll all alert the neighbours, too. That way, if Caesar and Blaine tries to kidnap you, they'll report 'em 'nd Caesar and Blaine'll be band from Rio forever."

"Really? You guys would actually do that for me?" Nico looked absolutely gob-smacked when Nestor and Pedro nodded.

"Now let's do somethin' about that wing, yeah?" Nestor asked, giving Nico a nudge.

"Yeah! There's no _way_ Caesar'll think you're at the aviary!" Pedro exclaimed enthusiastically.

Nico gave Pedro a quizzical look, asking, "Why?"

"'Cuz when you don't show up tonight, he'll know somethin's up. He'll know you're bright, and bright birds usually don't exactly break their wings their first day in Rio."

Not sure exactly what to say -or whether or not what Pedro said was a compliment or an insult- Nico smiled a bit and nodded, before having a thought. "Hey, how am I gonna get to the aviary?"

Nestor and Pedro exchanged glances. "_Well.._."

"DUDE! I'M SLIDING! LAND _NOW!" _Nico cried, hysterically forewarning Pedro that he was beginning to lose his grip on Pedro's talons, Nestor tightening his grip in Nico's other foot just in case Pedro lost his grip before they landed on the open window sill at the aviary.

Luckily, the Canary was gently placed on the window sill in time. As soon as he was on the window sill, lying on his back, he laughed nervously, glancing over at the scrawny, greasy-haired young adult -quite possibly twenty-three years old- walk into the room they were standing just outside of. He sipped on a cup of coffee out of a mug that said, "Save The Birds" with a few pictures of rather offensive cartoon birds drawn on it. It included a blue macaw, an African Grey Parrot, a variety of other endangered and common species, and -what really seemed to tick Nico off- Tweety. Pedro noticed Nico's frown of extreme disgrace as he looked over at the picture of Tweety.

"_Helllooo~" _Nestor sung, watching the young man impatiently, waiting for the guy to finally turn around and notice the trio.

Sighing in exasperation, Nestor glared at the human. Pedro -on the other hand- grinned and shouted out, "HEY!"

The orithologist whirled around, spitting out his coffee, and shrieked at the sight of the three birds on the window sill that were watching him. Nestor gestured to Nico, and pushed him inside a little, accidently bumping his right elbow. This caused Ncio to whince and inhale sharply, jumping.

Observing this, the ornithologist quickly went around the long bench where heaps of compartments and cages for different birds that were currently sick or injured and -nearly tripping over in his haste- scooped Nico up in his hands. He barely acknowledged the other two birds and disappeared off into another room, leaving Nestor and Pedro to sit and wait.


	4. Chapter 4 - Conflict?

"So, Nico, how's the looney bin?" Pedro smirked after greeting Nico with a surprise wake up call.

Nico, still clutching his chest, exclaimed, "Terrible! Why did you take me to such a place?!" He jumped up to his feet while Pedro smirked even wider from outside his cage, rather entertained by the oncoming rant. "Do you know what the crazy bird dude did with me after he put my wing in a sling?! He tried to _talk_ to me! _In bird!" _

Pedro was taken by extreme surprise when Nico dropped down to his knees dramatically and begged, his eyes wide all of a sudden, "You _gotta_ bust me outta here! _Please_, Pedro!

"I... I don't even know how to.. to- what's with the- no! Stop.. stop that!" Pedro began to try and back away from the cage without falling off the slick white bench.

"What's the problem?" Nico asked innocently, his large, brown eyes wider than usual, watering with tears threatening to escape and run down his cheeks. His beak began to temble as he pouted.

Trying to block the cute image from appearing again before his eyes, Pedro looked away, saying, "A'ight, a'ight! I'll bust you out, bird!" He paused. "But you might wanna stop with the eyes, though. It's gettin' kinda weird now."

Nico instantly broke into a grin, his eyes becoming back to their natural size and the tears seeming to automatically disappear. He jumped up again and lept up onto the metal bars and positioned himself right to the door and eyed the flip/slide lock. He knew what to do, but he couldn't reach the cage without going to other side of the door and reaching out with his right wing, which was currently impossible to do without aggravating his sprained elbow.

He looked over at Pedro, who was also eyeing the lock uncertainly.

"Pedro, come over here." Nico instrutcted, gesturing to the lock, watching Pedro edge his way closer to the door nervously. "Look, I need you to get that bolt and flip it up... okay, but flip it up a little bit higher. Yeah, that's good, now just slide the other thing to my right. Yes!"

He hopped off the cage bars and pushed the door open, then quickly hopped out and locked the door like an expert. Pedro stared at him before asking, "Where did you learn to open cages?"

Nico chuckled a bit and replied, "I worked it out after a while, being a pet and all-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up, bird!" Pedro waved his wings a bit, surprise writen all over his face. "Did you just say you're a _pet?_"

"Well... yeah. Well, I used to be a pet, but I'm not any mo-" Nico's explaining was cut short when a Toco Toucan swooped down from the sky.

The larger bird smiled at Nico, and then looked over at Pedro. "Hey, Pedro! So, who's your friend?"

"Oh, Rafy this here is Nico, Nico, this is Rafy -the King of Carnavale!" Pedro grinned wide and getsured to Rafael with a florish of wings to make a point.

"Carnavale?" Nico echoed questoningly.

Pedro gaped, looking like he was preparing to faint. But he didn't get the chance to do so, because just then, the nutty, nerdy ornithologist Tulio Montero had entered the room, and had immediately seen the Canary in a sling out of it's cage.

"Hey!" He yelled, once he had gotten over his momentary shock.

"On my back! Now!" Rafael suddenly cawed, holding a wing out for Nico to climb up onto his back, as Nico still wasn't allowed to move his wing in a sling.

The three birds made for the window, speeding out of the conservation centre, out into the city.

"Hey, where are we going?" Nico inquired, once they had gotten out of the bird hospital and had slowed down, and were currnetly gliding along.

Rafael, who had been leading Pedro what seemed to be nowhere in particular, finally landed on the top of a random stone building with an enchanting view of the city and the rainforest. He allowed Nico to slide down his wing and onto the roof and waiting for Pedro to land next to his new found friend before he spoke.

He fixed Nico and Pedro (especially) with a stern look, crossing his wings and frowning deeply, saying, "You have some explaining to do."

Gesturing to Nico with a dramatic florish of his wings and an unusually sober look, Pedro stated, "This is Caesar's new enslaved singer."

Gobsmacked, Rafael let the stern look transform into that of complete and utter disbelief and uncrossed his black wings. He looked over at Nico for some kind of affirmation. Nico shrugged casually -careful not to stretch his injured elbow- and nodded, not saying a word.

"Are you saying Caesar is trying that scandal again? After risking getting booted out of Rio?" Rafael seemed rather angered at this.

"Apparently, yep." Nico replied, nodding once again.

"Pedro told you what happened?"

Nico smiled a little, glancing over at Pedro who was gazing flirtatiously at a Tanager that was gliding past, completely oblivious to Rafael and Nico's current conversation. "Yeah. Freaked me out, to be honest."

Rafael noticed Pedro, who had flapped over to the girl and had started pulling a few moves on her, causing her to giggle and flutter her eyelashes, obviously enjoying getting so much attention from one of the most famous performers in all of Rio de Janeiro.

"Well, you've gotta be a pretty _phneumonial_ singer to be chosen. _Especially_ if Alonso agreed on you coming to Rio; he's a critique when it comes to singing." Rafael said, looking at Nico expectantly.

Nico laughed nervously, suddenly becoming quite pertubed. Even more so when the pretty Tanager looked over at him questioningly after hearing what Rafael had said. Pedro was also tuning in on the conversation now.

"A-are you asking me to _sing?" _Nico had drew his wings closer to himself uninvolentarily.

Grinning wide, Rafael waved it off with a good-natured laugh, replying in an incredibly easy-going manner, "What? No, amigo, I was just merely _suggesting_ that you should sing."

"Oh." Nico relaxed, but nearly let out a startled yelp when Pedro suddenly placed a wing around Nico's small shoulders. The green Tanager had disappeared, just a mere speck in the distance, flying away in the direction of the beach.

"Naw, c'mon Rafy! He should sing at the Shore sometime!" Pedro said, giving one of Nico's shoulders a discreet squeeze of encouragement. Nico shot Pedro a look of extreme chargain in return.

Rafael caught onto this and -grinning even wider than before- stepped in and interrupted before Pedro could begin talking about the incredible, infamous bird's club called The Shore, that had only recently been built near the shoreline, just at the edge of the rainforest in an old shack that had been repaired. He knew that Pedro would probably even start speaking of one of his friend's ambitions to start running a club with a bigger reputation than that of The Shore. Rafael had had to keep himself from swelling up too much with pride when Pedro had first told him about Raul's idea for a new club, and about how he agreed to help build it. However, Pedro was evasive about the club's design, which only piked his intruige. In fact, they were planning on starting the construction in around a month or two.

"Say, Eva won't mind if I hang with you guys for the rest of the day. Had about we go to the beach?" The ever-bright Rafael suggested, sneaking a glance at Nico's relieved expression.

"Heck, yeah! Let's go, Rafy!" Pedro happily replied, jumping into the air.

Nico clambered onto Rafael's back again, and they headed for the beach, Pedro flying faster than Speedy Gonzales. He only stopped when he neary crashed into a fellow avian, shouting out an apology while Rafael tried to catch up again.

"Hey, Rafy! Took you a while! What happened back there? I thought you were right behind me, man!" Pedro called out, after landing under the shade of an abandoned umbrella to escape the blistering, burning, white hot sand. In a time span of just ten minutes, Ipanema had began to become unbelieveably hot.

Nico rolled his eyes and hopped down off Rafael's back, taking extreme care to land in the shade. He flitted over to Pedro's side, onto to realise that the Cardinal was eyeing something. He tilted his head to try and see what Pedro was staring at. He could only see a few Macaws, a few Tanagers, people, colourful umbrellas, palm trees and a snack bar... Oh.

Amused, Rafael stooped down to eye-level Pedro, snapping him out of his trance, asking, "You wanna go to the snack bar?"

"Wha -yeah!" Pedro kept momentarily gazing over at the snack bar.

Nico chuckled, and said that he would stay at the umbrella to make sure that nobody would come along and take over the shaded spot, for more avians were guaranteed to fly over to beach soon, making it harder to find shady spots. They were lucky that they had arrived before lunch.

He sat down on the sand and gazed over at the sandy white shore, and the crystaline, clear waves, whose foamy edges bordered Brazil's east coast.

"Hey, cutie."

"GAH!" The living daylights were scared out of Nico twice in one morning. What next?

Nico clutched his chest to check if is heart was still beating, eyes wide. He turned his head to look at some fine female birds, who had landed under the shade of the same umbrella that he was using. He would have frowned, but it was impossible not to.

A Silver-Throated Tanager made strong eye contact with him before plopping down in the sand next to him. A Canary with big brown eyes sat on his other side, smiling a little bit at him before looking away to talk to her friends.

"You don't mind sharing an umbrella with us, do you?" The Tanager asked, stretching casually and smoothing down Nico's headfeathers, a sultry smile playing on her beak.

"N-no. Not at all." He could feel the heat radiating off his cheeks, unsure how to react to the female's sudden closeness.

She giggled, batting her eyelashes at him, knowing what his reaction was going to be, and began making small talk, occasionally glancing over at the other beach-goers to check out any other males before deciding to stay under the cool shade of the umbrella. It was only when she started paying rapt attention to a nearby volleyball game that she saw Nico smiling sweetly at her Canary friend, Lila. Lila continued talking to talk to Nico in her usual, soft purr, failing to see the Tanager's small smile to diminish in a second, and was now scowling enviously at Lila.

However, another Silver Throated Tanager and a Western Tanager caught her attention. She smirked to herself and -cautiously at first out of fear the sand would be too hot to handle- started to walk toward them.

"Ey! What's ya problem?" A masculine Silver Throated Tanager hollered, marching angrily over to Nico with a murderous look on his face.

He unexpectedly picked Nico up off the sand by the scruff of the neck so that Nico was looking directly into his blazing hazel eyes. Nico's breath quickened, occasionally hitching in his throat, nearly causing him to choke. It intimidated him that a random Tanager had stalked over to him and was now looking like he was ready to murder him. He gulped, glancing down nervously at his injured wing.

"You lil' pipsqueak!" He yelled, tightening his grip considerably on Nico. "How dare you break my lil' sister's heart! Who do you think you are?!" This Tanager demanded answers as he shook Nico violently.

"HEY! _Lay off, Jarrel!" _Pedro suddenly appeared on the scene.

Jarrel dropped Nico, letting him fall to the ground, and turned on his heel to scowl at Pedro. A Western Tanager that had been watching carefully stepped in as soon as Pedro balled his wings into fists, preparing for a possible brawl. He looked ready to pulverise Pedro at any secong now.

"Nyro." Pedro snarled at his rival, seeming dangerously close to trying to strangle the Tanager.

Nyro, glowering at Pedro, didn't comment. He just moved to Jarrel's side, picked Nico up and put him in a headlock, smirking malicously when Nico began to struggle, trying to slip from his firm grip, obviously not planning on letting go any time soon.

However, catching sight of a certain Toucan made him forget his plans, making him drop Nico, who gasped for the sweet oxygen.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rafael laughed, coming to Nico and Pedro's rescue. "What's going on over here?"

He purposefully stepped right in between Pedro and Nyro, who were sharing an intense staring contest, also keeping them out of each other's sight. Nico -while there was a tense silence- got up from his spot in the sand and brushed the sugary, white grains off of his feathers before hopping to Pedro's side, watching a bristling Nyro carefully. Meanwhile, Rafael frowned deeply when he saw that Nyro and Pedro were looking around him, sending bloodthirsty looks back and forth at each other.

He cleared his throat, steering Nico and Pedro away from the scene, and called out, "Well, it's time for us to go now! Bye, guys!"

The female Tanager crossed her arms and shot a dirty look at Nico's back.

_A/N: Okay, I did no editting for this, so I hope that I didn't make any mistakes :P Any constructive critisism is greatly accepted. However, flames shall be extinguished immediately. Now, please note that reviews DO motivate me to write! *hinthint* Have a nice day/evening/night! :D_


	5. Chapter 5

"So, Rafy, should we go to The Shore?" Asked Pedro.

Rafael glanced at Nico, who was nibbling on a piece of orange, watching the sunset, complete oblivious to Rafael's uncertain expression.

"I'm not sure. Caesar might start looking for Nico soon..." He looked around cautiously.

Nico tore his eyes away from the disappearing rays of the warm, glowing sun, replying with a nod, "He said that if I wasn't back at the building by sundown Alonso would come and look for me."

The Toco Toucan grinned knowledgeably in response, saying, "Alonso would _never_ ask around looking for a canary at the club. It might cause a bit of a commotion, and a grapevine might grow from it. It would be the l_ast_ place he would go." He paused before adding with a shrug, "Other than the aviary. But we should try and digiuse you in some way at least."

The Canary exchanged looks with Pedro and asked Rafael, "What do you have in mind?"

"Eh." The Toucan shrugged, looking around for nothing in particular.

"And what exactly does 'eh' mean?" Pedro inquired, grinning with amusement when Rafael jumped up into the air and waved them over.

The Pedro landed next to Rafael, perched on the edge of a large waste bin, watching curiously as their toucan friend sifted through the garbage to try and find something. He found a tiny ring with a valuable green emerald and held it up in a somewhat triumpant way. Nico just tilted his head, befuddled, while Pedro offered him a wing to help him up onto the edge of the waste bin, since Nico had climbed up. He had found ut unexpected easy to find a way up.

Seeming very satisfied with his find, Rafael asked for Nico to lift his leg, Nico obliging with a doubtful look. He then slipped the ring onto Nico's leg.

Nico raised an eyebrow and questioned Rafael, "And how exactly is this going to disguise me from the clutches of a possibly homicidal Macaw?"

"Oh." Rafael considered this before taking the ring from Nico and chucking back into the messy waste bin.

"You could've given that to Eva." Pedro muttered.

Nico laughed at Pedro's comment and Rafael's look of disdain, and the negative, unintelligble grumbled reply the Toucan had added. Rafael gave Nico a slight shove. In turn to Rafael shoving him -even if it was just a small one- Nico lost his balance. He flailed his wings around to try and regain his balance, but failed to do so. Instead, he fell straight into the waste bin.

It took quite a few seconds for both Pedro and Rafael to register what had just happened. But before they could start digging through the trash in search of their newfound Canary friend, a yellow head popped up out of the rubbish underneath a green bottlecap. _Another_ green bottlecap. Nico frowned a bit at having a beer bottlecap exactly the same as the one he had had resting on his head when he was being chased by a cat.

He was just about to lift it off of his head and fling it over his shoulder, but Rafael exclaimed, "No!" Nico then looked at him for an explanation, making him elaborate. "It works! See?"

The older bird held up a conveniently placed shard of glass in front of Nico's face so that he could see his reflection.

"Huh." Nico smiled.

"Oh, heck yeah! Keepin' it spicy! Just the thing chicks dig!" Pedro exclaimed, earning a hearty laugh from Rafael and a chuckle from Nico. "To The Shore!" The Cardinal called out, fist pumping before launching himself into the air, waiting for Nico to get onto Rafael's back again, this time flying a bit more slowly than last time.

"Yo, Pedro! You performin' tonight?" The bright-eyed bartender called out over the blaring music.

"Yup! Sure am!" Pedro hollered back from his stool next to Nico.

Rafael had gone home, promising to come back at midnight to carry the still-flightless Nico to Pedro's hollow. So, Nico and Pedro were currently sitting at the illuminated bar on the right side of the club. The only bad thing about The Shore was that even though alcahol was _supposed_ to be banned, certain birds would occasionally sneak cocktails and beer bottles into the club somehow.

However, there was one thing that was keeping Pedro from being as boisterous as he usually was whenever he went out clubbing. Jarrel and Nyro were there.

"Hey, where did you say Nestor was again?" Nico inquired, trying to stop Pedro glowering at the other duo and crossing his wings. The current music was starting to get quieter for the bridge of the song an Orange Chat was singing.

Pedro shrugged, turning to Nico. "Said he was helpin' a friend out with somethin'."

"Oh."

"You're not distractin' me from Nyro and Jarrel, y'know."

"Why do hate them so much, anyway?" Nico suddenly asked, pushing his bottlecap off his forehead. He'd forgotten it was there. The Cardinal frowned, somewhat uncomfortable with the question, and was grateful when Nico decided to tell him to forget about the question, saying it didn't really matter anyway.

Groaning, Pedro face palmed, saying, "They're performing tonight, too. They're headin' backstage right now."

"Hey Pedro!" A random girl -a Lesser Striped Swallow- shouted. As soon as she came over, her curious, wide green eyes landed on Nico and she grinned even more broadly before saying to Pedro, "How long have you been keepin' this cutie from me?"

"Don't worry, Fee. I only just met 'im yesterday."

The female laughed wholeheartedly, turning to Nico to explain, "I'm Phoebe. And you are..." She trailed off and guessed uncertainly, "... Jason?"

"Nico." Pedro corrected with an amused smile, gesturing to the chuckling Canary.

Jarrel started off, alone on the stage in his own individual blue spotlight, accompanied by maracas, tin drums, triangles and a makeshift, handcrafted guitar made of wood.

_On that sunny day_

_Didn't know I'd meet_

_Such a beautiful girl_

_Walking down the street_

_Saw those bright brown eyes_

_With tears coming down_

_She deserves a crown_

_But where is it now?_

_Moca, listen_

Jarrel was joined, Nyro harmonising smoothly with him as he only just flapped onto the stage, an orange beam of light switching on to follow him around. Nyro -being what seemed to be more favoured by the lady birds- was greeted by high-pitched screams. He shimmied, grinning flirtatiously, shooting a wink toward a disguisted Phoebe.

_Senorita, I feel for you_

_You deal with things, that you don't have to_

_He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm_

_But you could feel this real love_

_If you just lay in my-_

Nyro stopped singing to begin dancing with some back-up dancers. It was smooth jazz routine, mixed with hip hop in spots, making in it a slick, attention-seeking piece of choreography.

_Running fast in my mind_

_Girl won't you slow it down?_

_If we carry on this way_

_This thing might leave the ground_

_How would you like to fly?_

_That's how my queen should ride_

_But you still deserve a crown_

_Or hasn't it been found?_

_Chica, listen_

_Senorita, I feel for you_

_(Feel for you)_

_You deal with things, that you don't have to_

_(Noo, nooo)_

_He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm_

_(He don't love ya baby)_

_But you could feel this real love_

_(Feel it)_

_If you just lay in my..._

The two were obviously proud of how they had made up the song, and the dance routine as Jarrell took over singing lead again, Nyro vocalising and the such while his companion sung.

_Ahh, ahhh, arms..._

_(Won't you lay in my)_

_Ahh, ahhh, arms..._

_(Chica lay in my)_

_Ahh, ahhh, arms..._

_(Baby won't you lay in my)_

_Ahh, ahhh, arms..._

Nyro started singing in Jarrel's place while his companion sung back-up and danced alongside him. Phoebe frowned with extreme chagrin when almost all the females in the audience swooned over the first few lines that Nyro sung oh-so convincingly. It bothered her when the Western Tanager looked her way and beckoned for her to come on over.

_When I look into your eyes_

_I see something that money can't buy_

_And I know if you give us a try_

_I'll work hard for you girl_

_And no longer will you ever have to cry_

_Senorita, I feel for you_

_You deal with things, that you don't have to_

_(Deal with things... you don't have to, ohh)_

_He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm_

_(Noo, nooo)_

_But you could feel this real love_

_(Feel it)_

_If you just lay in my..._

The two began mirroring each other, trading breakdancing moves that wouldn't mess with their diaframe as they sung.

_Ahh, ahhh, arms..._

_(Whoaa)_

_Ahh, ahhh, arms..._

_(My baby)_

_Ahh, ahh, arms..._

_(Ooooh, yeahh)_

_Ah, ahhh, arms..._

The Western Tanager continued along for the bridge, singing along with the soft music like a complete dreamboy, breathing the last two lines with the help of a microphone. He looked completely different performing than when he had been hanging out with Jarrel at the beach.

_When I look into your eyes_

_I see somethin' that money can't buy_

_And I know if you give us a try..._

_I'll work hard for you girl_

_And you won't ever cry_

Nyro and Jarrel both stopped singing and dancing and stood center-front stage to holler the next part, their microphones in their wings.

_Now listen,_

_I wanna try somethin' right now_

_See, they don't do this anymore_

_I'ma sing something_

_And I want the guys to sing wit' me_

_They go,_

_"It feels like something's heating up, can I leave wit' you?"_

_And then the ladies go,_

At this part, Nyro smiled wide and made all the female audience members fan their faces and giggle at his sterotypical impression of a girl, pretending to play coy like a flirty girl might. He even managed to make his voice a bit higher for the certain part.

_"I don't know but I'm thinkin' 'bout, really leaving wit' you"_

Jarrel gave his partner in crime a good-natured slap on the back.

_Guys sing!_

_It feels like something's heating up, can I leave wit' you?_

Nyro looked over down at his fan-girls in the very front row, smug as he shouted out their queue. It had certainly caught the crowd by surprise.

_And ladies!_

_I don't know but I'm thinking 'bout, really leaving with you_

Jarrel yelled the guy's queue, him and Nyro joining in as loud as they could without using their microphones.

_Feels good don't it? Come on!_

_It feels like something's heating up, can I leave wit' you?_

Then, the duo switched their rotation. This time, Nyro was singing out the boy's queues and Jarrel sung out the lady's queues.

_Yeah, ladies!_

_I don't know but I'm thinkin' 'bout, really leaving with you_

_Sing it one more time!_

_It feels like something's heating up, can I leave wit' you?_

_Ladies!_

_I don't know but I'm thinkin' 'bout, really leaving with you_

_Yeaah, yeaahhh_

_It feels like something's heating up, can I leave wit' you?_

_Oh! Ladies_

_I don't know but I'm thinkin' bout, really leaving with you_

_Gentlemen, good night_

_Ladies... good morning_

The duo exchanged the slyest of looks, before saying the final line in perfect unison.

_That's it_

After about two more bars of music, it came to a sudden stop. The infamous singer duo appreciated a minute of applause while the back of the stage became a bit darker so that the stagehands could set up for the next act -Pedro's performance.

Phoboe promising to make sure Jarrel and Nyro didn't try and pick on Nico while he was on the stage, Pedro rolled his shoulders and took off for backstage just in time to catch his rival's eye for just one small, fleeting second. He spent a few seconds near the edge of the stage, taking in the crowd and taking a deep breath. Then, he sauntered to the centre of the stage.

As soon as Pedro started, a musician bird began strumming at his trusty guitar.

_Ah, que linda!_

_Bossa Nova, Samba…_

_Coração do Brasil,_

_And now it's the new style_

Much to Nico's surprise, Pedro suddenly began rapping away like the biggest hip hop master in the history of birds. The Cardinal was happily embracing the crowd's sounds of admiration as he did a quite lewd dance that earned a chuckle from Nico, Phoebe shooting him an almost sheepish look.

_Get get get get get get get it, girl_

_Get get get get get get get it, girl_

_Get get get get get get get it, girl_

_Take her, take her to the floor_

_Show her, show her how you roll_

_Drop it, drop it, drop it low, drop it..._

Pedro was now performing with great gutso, having reached the second verse. Spurred on by the audience's sreams and cheers, he breakdanced beyond of what Nico thought he would have been capable of. He had massively underestimated his new friend.

_P-p-play it funky in Brazil_

_Do that samba, don't stay still_

_Come on up, we keep you dancin'_

_Super groupers how you feel_

_We gonna rock it in the street, till we see the morning sun_

_We aint stoppin' in the carnival, we party on and on_

_Rock it on and on, on and on_

_That's just how we do_

_And my beats be pumpin' loud like samba schools to make you move_

_This party will never end, no baby it's never over_

_All the millions of Brazilian women and make me say "guestoso"_

At this particular line, he nodded toward a Crimson Tanager that stood out, since she was sitting down on a crate, talking to what could only be her friend. She noticed that the current performer was looking at her and blushed, smiling bashfully. Her friend laughed at her. Then, Pedro was back to dancing in a beat.

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Take her, take her to the floor_

_Show her, show her how you roll_

_Drop it, drop it, drop it low, drop it, drop drop it low_

_Take her, take her to the floor_

_Show her, show her how you roll_

_Drop it, drop it, drop it low_

_Drop it, drop it, drop it low_

Once he had finished the second chorus, he stopped rapping and started to sing. It turned out he was a deep, low bass.

_Que linda, que linda_

_I love Ipanema_

_It's the place to fall in love_

_And Copacabana_

_Rio oh rio-o-o-ay-o_

_Samba le samba-a-a-ahh_

_It's the place to fall in love_

_In Rio... hey!_

_In Rio..hey!_

_In Rio.. hey!_

_In Rio... hey!_

_Ah, que linda!_

_Bossa nova, samba_

_Coração do Brasil_

_And now it's the new style_

_Que linda, que linda_

_I love Ipanema_

_It's the place to fall in love_

_And Copacabana_

_Rio oh rio-o-ay-o_

_Samba le samba-a-a-a_

_It's the place, to fall in love!_

Just as the song was seeming to become more of a slow paced serenade, Pedro went back to the repetitive chorus that seemed to be catching on to Nico. Nico had begun moving the words, keeping his mouth small so that it was subtle enough for the birds around him not to think he was mentally unstable. He watched Pedro, who was still dancing vigorously.

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Get get get get get get get it girl_

_Take her, take her to the floor_

_Show her, show her how you roll_

_Drop it, drop it, drop it low, drop it drop drop it low_

_Take her, take her to the floor_

_Show her, show her how you roll_

_Drop it, drop it, drop it low, drop it drop drop it low_

Nico was still mystified as to how Pedro was able to have enough stamina to last three and half minutes on a stage rapping as loud as he could without a microphone and breakdancing and doing tiring hip hop routines. Especially since the Cardinal was -admittedly- pretty robust to say in the least. The Canary felt guilty about even _thinking_ to himself that Pedro wasn't in as good shape as he could have been, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, choosing to ignore it.

As soon as his friend was done appreciating the roaring crowd's praise, Nico watched as Pedro cleverly avoided going straight down into the crowd where he could easily be bombarded by his most biggest fans. The Cardinal went backstage and walked out of a small, subtle doorway near where the bar started on the side of the club.

"He's good, isn't he?" Phoebe said suddenly, standing up and picking up her cup. Nico nodded his agreement, Phoebe adding, "Well, he is one of the most renowned performers in Rio, y'know."

"Really?" Nico asked, becoming extremely intruiged.

The girl nodded in affirmation. "Oh, heck yeah." There was a moment of silence before she asked with a slight tilt of her head, "You're a Canary, right?"

"Well, yeah."

She grinned at that, then casually leaned against the cool countertop behind them, saying, "You and him should do a performance together. _If_ you can sing."

"What was that?" Pedro appeared, popping up in front of them with an inquisitive look on his face. "Somethin' bout him singing?"

The Swallow shrugged casually, saying, "I said that you guys should perform together if Nico can sing."

Pedro was jumping for joy in an instant excitedly at the idea, exclaiming, "That would be_ so awesome!"_

Phoebe looked surprised, doing a double take before her eyes landed on Pedro and she gestured to Nico as she asked, "He can sing?"

The Cardinal grinned wide and placed a wing on Nico's shoulders, replying, "Yup. One of the best in Marsielle. Wherever Marsielle is."

"It's in France." Nico said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"_France?" _Phoebe echoed, seeming ready to faint.

Pedro withdrew his wing and stepped back with wide eyes, exclaiming, "No way! You don't _sound_ French!"

"I was born in the Canary Islands, lived there in the wild for a while, but when I turned fifteen me and my brother were taken by people. Then I got bought by a French lady in a pet shop in the middle of Paris."

Pedro was amazed at this and asked eagerly, "Can you _speak_ French?"

Nico was amused by Pedro's excitement and nodded, saying, "_Vous étiez incroyable sur scène."_

"Wait until the ladies hear this! They'll be melting in your wings!"

Phoebe and Nico exchanged looks of bemusement and laughed at Pedro's sudden excitement, and his eagerness to go over to the other end of the bar and show Nico to his many lady friends.

_A/N: Okay, so first off, when Nico said that thing in French, he siad, 'You were amazing on stage'. Next, I noticed that I have forgotten to mention what the songs in the recent chapters, so I'm going to go through them right now, starting from the start. First it was the starting lines of 'Fly Love' by Jamie Foxx, 'Real in Rio', 'Sunday Morning' by Maroon 5, 'Senorita' by Justin Timberlake, and 'Drop It Low' by Will. . Have a fabulous day/night! And feel free to leave some reviews! ;)_


End file.
